Egypt: EgyptAir Hijacker in Custody, Crisis Averted

The person who hijacked EgyptAir flight, diverting it to Cyprus was arrested earlier today. The passengers and crew were released unharmed. The motives of the hijacker are unknown. In our earlier assessment, we estimated the incident to have been the work of Islamic State’s affiliate in Egypt. However, evidence may be suggesting that it was an individual’s initiative. Regardless, scrutiny over airport security procedures is likely to rise, and that may create additional friction with Egypt’s international partners, in particular among those in the tourism sector, who are looking to return to Egypt while guaranteeing security for their customers.

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Earlier release:

The enormous efforts deployed by the Egyptian government to insure the recovery of the tourism industry are now facing a new challenge. With the ongoing EgyptAir hijack, the investments made by Egypt to secure its airports in an effort to convinve foreign tourists to return may not bear fruit.

An EgyptAir Airbus A320 carrying 81 passengers on a domestic flight within Egypt has been diverted from its scheduled route of Alexandria to Cairo, and landed this morning in Larnaca in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Although the hijackers are not know yet, they are most likely from Islamic State organization. One of the hijackers is believed to be carrying explosives, hinting on dismal security capabalities at the departing airport. Negotiations are under way. Please visit our site for regular updates.

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